Flight Phase-Based Analysis of Electrical Load and Generator Performance in Boeing 737-500 Using Flight Test Data
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55927/ijar.v5i5.16528Keywords:
Aircraft Electrical System, Flight Phase Analysis, Electrical Load Variation, Generator Performance, Boeing 737-500 Flight Test DataAbstract
This study analyzes electrical load behavior and engine-driven generator performance on the Boeing 737-500 using real flight test data across all flight phases, including taxi, takeoff, climb, cruise, descent, approach, and landing. The analysis is based on operational parameters such as altitude, airspeed, N1, N2, EGT, fuel flow, oil pressure, oil temperature, and vibration. Results show that the highest electrical loads occur during takeoff and climb due to anti-ice operation, bleed air demand, and maximum thrust settings, while the cruise phase at FL350 provides the most stable operating condition with balanced load distribution and minimal frequency fluctuation. Moderate load changes occur during descent as system configurations transition. Overall, generator performance remains stable throughout all flight phases without imbalance or frequency deviation. Unlike previous simulation-based studies, this research provides empirical evidence from actual aircraft operations, contributing to condition-based maintenance development and aircraft electrical system monitoring frameworks.
Downloads
References
Ahmed, U., Ali, F., & Jennions, I. (2021). A review of aircraft auxiliary power unit faults, diagnostics, and acoustic measurements. Progress in Aerospace Sciences, 124, 100721.
Barzkar, A., & Ghassemi, M. (2020). Electric power systems in more and all-electric aircraft: A review. IEEE Access, 8, 169314-169332.
Grigore-Müler, O. (2024). An Analysis of a Complete Aircraft Electrical Power System Simulation Based on a Constant Speed Constant Frequency Configuration. Aerospace, 11(10), 860.
Ebrahimi, H., Gatabi, J. R., & El-Kishky, H. (2015). An auxiliary power unit for advanced aircraft electric power systems. Electric Power Systems Research, 119, 393-406.
Garriga, A. G., Govindaraju, P., Ponnusamy, S. S., Cimmino, N., & Mainini, L. (2018). A modelling framework to support power architecture trade-off studies for More-Electric Aircraft. Transportation Research Procedia, 29, 146-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trpro.2018.02.013
Gębura, A., Szelmanowski, A., Jacyna-Gołda, I., Gołda, P., Kalbarczyk, M., & Tomaszewska, J. (2025). Concepts and experiments on more electric aircraft power systems. Energies, 18(7), 1653.
Helgo, M. (2023). Deep learning and machine learning algorithms for enhanced aircraft maintenance and flight data analysis. Journal of Robotics Spectrum, 1, 090-099.
Karvekar, A., & Karvekar, S. (2025). Energy Management System for a Multi‐Source Electric Power System Architecture in More Electric Aircraft. Fuel Cells, 25(5), e70019.
Madonna, V., Giangrande, P., & Galea, M. (2018). Electrical power generation in aircraft: Review, challenges, and opportunities. IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, 4(3), 646–659.
Reddy, B. M. M., Ramesh, M., Reddy, C. M. K., Tilak, D. V., Reddy, K. V. K., & VPMB, A. (2023, April). Cloud-based Analysis and Testing of Operations in a Flight System using Embedded Sensors and Microcontrollers. In 2023, the 7th International Conference on Trends in Electronics and Informatics (ICOEI) (pp. 724-728). IEEE.
Ruiz, L., Inca, G., Bautista, R., & Arévalo, E. (2022, October). Simulation of a Boeing 737-500 aircraft electrical system. In 2022 IEEE Sixth Ecuador Technical Chapters Meeting (ETCM) (pp. 1-5). IEEE.
Sadeghi, A., Bellavista, P., Song, W., & Yazdani-Asrami, M. (2024). Digital twins for condition and fleet monitoring of aircraft: toward more-intelligent electrified aviation systems. IEEE access, 12, 99806-99832.
Sarlioglu, B., & Morris, C. T. (2015). More electric aircraft: Review, challenges, and opportunities for commercial transport aircraft. IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification, 1(1), 54–64.
Setlak, L., Kowalik, R., Gębura, A., & Gołda, P. (2024). Dynamic stability analysis of the aircraft electrical power system in the more electric aircraft concept. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 25521.
Park, C. Y., Ko, M. G., Kim, S. Y., & Ha, J. S. (2020). Flight test applications of an improved operational load monitoring device. International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences, 1-14.
Zeng, Z., Wang, J., Zhu, Q., Qu, C., & Fang, X. (2025). Statistical Analysis and Mechanisms of Aircraft Electrical Power System Failures Under Redundant Symmetric Architecture: A Review. Symmetry, 17(8), 1341.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Andy Marjono Putranto, Sovian Aritonang, Erzi Agson Gani, Lalu Aan Sasaka Akbar, Ani Widuri

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.





























